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Serial breacher sentenced A MAN who breached a protection order for the 10th time last year to see his children has been sentenced at Te Kūiti District Court.
Defence lawyer Andrea Jones said Nigel Junior North travelled to Tauranga to see his children two weekends in a row after not seeing them for two years.
The second time he left after an argument with their mother. He was said to have been frustrated at not being able to see his kids.
North pleaded guilty in December to a charge of contravening a protection order.
Judge Phillip Crayton told North it was “only by the finest of margins” that he was not going to prison.
The judge said it was clear from North’s history of ignoring the protection order that he had not taken on board that he did not get to determine when he contacted his children.
“You are here, not because you showed up [at the mother’s house], but because you abused her,” he said.
Comments made by North in the argument, which was in front of his children, were designed to humiliate his ex-partner, the judge said.
North was sentenced to 12 months’ supervision and 120 hours of community work.
Drunk driving admitted TE Awamutu resident Otis Joyce pleaded guilty last week to a charge of driving with excess breath alcohol – his sixth drink driving conviction but the first in a decade.
He is due to be sentenced in Te Awamutu District Court in March for driving with a breath alcohol level of 600 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The legal limit for driving is 250mcg.
Alleged sexual offender gets name suppression A MAN has appeared in Te Kūiti District Court on 10 charges relating to alleged historic sexual offending.
Judge Crayton granted the man interim name suppression until his next appearance, based on the potential that he could suffer extreme hardship in his job if his name was published.
Of the 10 charges, eight relate to a girl younger than 16 and two relate to a female older than 16. Four of the charges allege the man did an indecent act on a girl younger than 12.
The man did not enter a plea to any of the charges, with his lawyer saying that she needed more time to discuss the matter with her client.
Five people sat in the public gallery to support the man.
Anger at delayed sentencing PROFANITIES were shouted at the judge by Douglas Rex Kawerau, who has been held in custody since late October and thought he would be sentenced last week.
Kawerau pleaded guilty on Thursday by audio visual link to a charge of threatening to kill with a firearm, rounding out his charges so he had pleaded guilty to all.
His other charges included breaching community work, breaching the conditions of his intensive supervision sentence and verbally threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm.
Kawerau had hoped to be sentenced last week, but the judge thought another report needed to be completed to determine the full scope of sentencing options.
Upon hearing he would not be sentenced until the end of March, Kawerau launched into a slew of expletives targeted at Judge Crayton, who asked the registrar to “cut him off please.”
Livestock ownership ban A MAN who failed to recognise and act on flystrike affecting his only lamb has been barred from owning any livestock for the next three years.
Prosecution was taken by the SPCA against the man, who has an intellectual disability and pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelly or ill-treating an animal.
The ewe lamb was put down by the SPCA once found.
The man was sold the lamb by a neighbour and did not own any other livestock. He was also ordered to pay $465.25 in reparations.
Judge Crayton noted the incident appeared to be a one-off situation.
Trial date found A DATE has been set for the trial of Terangi Trangmar, who has denied a raft of charges relating to alleged threatening behaviour and breaching an extended supervision order. He has opted for a judge alone trial, which has been set down for mid-May.
Phone thief sentenced TE Kūiti woman Kelly Louise Cloke has been sentenced for stealing a $2000 phone and a bank card in Blenheim. Cloke was said to now be away from associates who were “dragging her down” in Nelson and there were hopes now she was home in Te Kūiti she would not fall into opportunistic offending like that for which she was in court. Judge Crayton sentenced Cloke to 12 months’ supervision and 60 hours’ community work. She must pay $1250 in reparation, which is less than the value of the Samsung S22 Ultra phone she stole, but paying the full amount was determined to be beyond her means.
Workaround for driver A YOUNG man caught driving while disqualified had his car confiscated in a legal workaround designed to create some light at the end of the tunnel. Paora Joseph Marshall Daymond-Bodger was sentenced in April last year for driving over the legal alcohol limit. Because he owned a car, he was subject to an alcohol interlock condition, and he was indefinitely disqualified from driving until he got the device fitted. Daymond-Bodger did not get the device fitted and his lawyer said he had no intention of progressing beyond his learner licence. Last year he was caught driving his car while he was indefinitely disqualified – his second conviction of the type. “He’s in a spiral that we’ve got to get him out of,” Judge Crayton said. Police prosecutor Baden Hilton said he was taking a practical approach in suggesting the confiscation of Daymond-Bodger’s vehicle. By surrendering his car, Daymond-Bodger did not own one anymore and could apply to be resentenced on the original drink driving charge which imposed the interlock condition. Because he no longer owned a car, he was not subject to an interlock. Daymond-Bodger signed a declaration to say he would surrender his car on Monday and was resentenced on the original drink driving charge to be disqualified for 12 months from December 5, 2021. On the most recent driving while disqualified charge, Daymond-Bodger was disqualified for six months, which was backdated to December 6, 2022, and he was sentenced to 12 months’ supervision.
Drunk driver sentenced A DRUNK driver has admitted being over the legal alcohol limit at the time he crashed and wrote off his vehicle. Benjamin Zane Clarke was disqualified from driving for six months and fined $450. He was ordered to pay $130 court costs.
Driver disqualified YOUNG Piopio woman Kay Jay Te Puke Solomon was fined $750 and disqualified from driving for six months for driving with a breath alcohol level of 600mcg. Solomon was driving her partner’s car after 10pm when she crashed and rolled down a bank. She had a restricted licence and should not have been driving at the time she was. This was her first criminal offence. She must also pay $130 in court costs.
Sentence for concealed gun A SHEARER without a gun licence has been sentenced for concealing a hunting rifle behind a false wall in his wardrobe. Sam Murphy was sentenced to 60 hours’ community work last week after pleading guilty to unlawfully possessing the weapon. Judge Crayton said the firearm was an operative hunting rifle and had both innocent and sinister uses, though he was concerned about it having been concealed behind a false wall.
